NEWS FOM THE PAST: MACROFOSSILS "YIMENIONTA"
LIVED IN THE PALEOPROTEROZOIC - 2.2 BILLIONS AGO!
NEUES AUS DER VERGANGENHEIT: MAKROFOSSILIEN "YIMENIONTA"
LEBTEN IM PALAEOPROTEROZOIKUM - VOR 2,2 MILLIARDEN JAHREN
News from the deepest past: Macrofossils that are 2.2 billion years old have been found in China - the "Yimenionta", 100 million years older than the famous "Gabonionta" by Abderrazak El Albani. The discoverer of the oldest biota found so far: Timothy Huang.
Older than the “Gabonionta” (2.1 billions) of the Franceville Biota (see page: "Abderrazak El Albani - Gabonionta") are the “Yimenionta” from Yimen County, central Yunnan province, China. Thousands of shrimp-like looking fossils have various lenghts – up to more than 1 cm. The finder of this biota is Professor Timothy Huang from Jilin University, and he speaks of ca 2.2 billion years old fossils, “sizes and morphologically apparent well developed”. These are body fossils “with undeniable evidence of organic remains preservation”. In contrast to the Franceville Biota, he is working on providing evidence of cells. Timothy Huang declared:
1. The age is ca 2.2 Ga.
2. These are multicellular body fossils of up to 1cm or little more in length, no trace fossils or pyrite.
3. Eighteen (out of 20) essential amino acids, five steranes and peptides and many organic remains (amino acids) were found.
4. Biomarkers were also found, confirming the oldest eucaryotes in the fossil record.
5. Cells were presumably found but not confirmed until now.
The nick name is “Shrimpy” because of the apparent segmentation, they look like a tiny shrimp if you look from above (see picture). The scientists saw this structure on every “Shrimpy” - so, they don't think these were fractures. All hundreds, thousands “Shrimpies” have the same longish shape, but various lengths. Another organism of the Daqian Biota has the nick name “Peanut”. 
Literature:
Uwe M. Troppenz
(2021): "NEWS FROM THE PAST - Paleoproterozoic - Mesoproterozoic - Neoproterozoic", 72 pages, 34 illustrations on 14 plates, Power Design & Druck Parchim . 12.50 Euros. Please send me a message: fossilien241251@web.de.The book is written in English and German language, the chapters have been discussed with the researchers and confirmed by them. It has the following contents:
Preface/Vorwort
The „Yimenionta“ of China (with Prof. T. Huang)
Die „Yimenionta“ von China
Diskagma: Research inchoate (with Prof. G. Retallack)
Diskagma: Forschung unvollendet
The „Gabonionta“ of Gabon (with Prof. A. El Albani)
Die „Gabonionta“ von Gabun
Enigmatic fossils of the Proterozoic
Rätselhafte Fossilien des Proterozoikums
New Ediacaran discoveries (with Dr. A. Martyshyn and Prof. T. Huang)
Neue Entdeckungen im Ediacarium
Acknowledgements / Danksagungen
Literature
BOOK / PROF. HUANG / SHRIMPY AND PEANUT
DIE ÄLTESTEN MEHRZELLER: SHRIMPY, PEANUT UND SILKY
THE OLDEST MULTICELLULARS: SHRIMPY, PEANUT AND SILKY
(Deutsch unten) My friend Prof. Timothy Huang died in January 2023. Among other things, he was Lifetime Executive Director at Jilin University - Dinosaur Evolution Research Center. Nevertheless, his Precambrian discoveries are of the greatest importance for paleontology, especially his discovery of the oldest multicellular organisms "Shrimpy", "Peanut" and "Silky" (2.2 billions), as he provisionally named them. It was an experience for me to learn directly about his research on email for years. He once wrote to me enthusiastically: "I discovered the cells last night!" I was particularly proud that he provided me with an initial article on "Shrimpy" and "Peanut" for my book "News from the Past", which he because of of the site called "Yimenionta" (based on the "Gabonionta" by Prof. Abderrazak El Albani). "Silky" was a new discovery, previously unreleased.
Unfortunately, Timothy's daughter has not yet answered me. My main concern is not to let Timothy's book go unpublished. He had finished it and was still looking for a publisher in Europe. At the end of October 2022 he wrote to me: "On the book side, I finished the third revision of my new book, "The Way of Life - PaleoChemistry Examples," and the fourth is undergoing. In this new 400+ page book, both Shrimpy and Peanut were fully described, and even with a "new" discovery of "silky," something long and silk like. Again, it's in both Chinese and English. I'm looking for a publisher. If you can help, it will be very highly appreciated." The scientific Springer publishing house in Germany I suggested (Timothy: "I'll try.") replied to my inquiry as to whether the manuscript had been sent: "Unfortunately we can could not find any submission by Prof. Huang.”
It's important to me to at least capture the "Silky" supplement, even if I don't have a photo of it. Also, I will present a chapter of the book (on Ediacarian finds) in the next post. Timothy emailed this chapter to me.
The photo shows Precambrian cells. Timothy wrote to me on 12/13/21: "Dec 09: Just found cells and organelles inside 1.53 Ga (Mesoproterozoic) fossils from central Yunnan, yesterday."
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Mein Freund Prof. Timothy Huang starb im Januar 2023. Er war u.a. Lifetime Executive Director at Jilin University - Dinosaur Evolution Research Center. Dennoch sind gerade seine präkambrischen Entdeckungen von größter Bedeutung für die Paläontologie, vor allem seine Entdeckung der ältesten Mehrzeller „Shrimpy“, „Peanut“ und „Silky“ (2,2 Mrd.), wie er sie provisorisch benannte. Es war für mich ein Erlebnis, jahrelang unmittelbar von seinen Forschungen über Email zu erfahren. Einmal schrieb er mir begeistert: „Ich habe heute Nacht die Zellen entdeckt!“ Besonders stolz war ich, dass er mir einen ersten Artikel über „Shrimpy“ und Peanut“ für mein Buch „News from the Past“ zur Verfügung stellte, die er wegen des Fundortes „Yimenionta“ nannte (in Anlehnung an die „Gabonionta“ von Prof. Abderrazak El Albani). „Silky“ war eine Neuentdeckung, die bisher unveröffentlicht ist.
Leider hat mir die Tochter von Timothy bisher nicht geantwortet. Es geht mir vor allem darum, Timothys Buch nicht unveröffentlicht zu lassen. Er hatte es vollendet und suchte noch einen Verlag in Europa. Ende Oktober 2022 schrieb er mir: „On the book side, I finished the third revision of my new book, "The Way of Life - PaleoChemistry Examples," and the fourth is undergoing. In this new 400+ page book, both Shrimpy and Peanut were fully described, and even with a "new" discovery of "silky," something long and silk like. Again, it's in both Chinese and English. I'm looking for a publisher. If you can help, it will be very highly appreciated.“ Der von mir vorgeschlagene wissenschaftliche Springer-Verlag in Deutschland (Timothy: „I’ll try.“) antwortete auf meine Anfrage, ob das Manuskript hingeschickt worden ist: „Leider können wir keine Einreichung von Prof. Huang finden.“
Es ist mir wichtig, wenigstens die Ergänzung „Silky“ festzuhalten, auch wenn ich kein Foto davon habe.
Das Foto zeigt präkambrische Zellen. Timothy schrieb mir am 13.12.21: „Dec 09: Just found cells and organelles inside 1,53 Ga (Mesoproterozoic) fossils from central Yunnan, yesterday.“